Slope sheet for freight cars



Nov. 13, 1928.

W. E. WIN! sLoPE SHEET FOR FREIGHT cARs Filed March 13, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 o Mmc D www .WEE

|o. ,Vox .NPQW w Il ICI I William E'. Wine Inven'or.

4 sheets-sheet W. E. WINE SLOPE SHEET FR FREIGHT GARS Filed March 13, 1928 a or Nov. 13, 1928.

Inuen'or.'

,ill

W. E. WINE SLOPE SHEET FOR FREIGHT CARS Nov.4 13, 1928.

4 sheets-sheet 3 Filed March 13, 1928.

Inuen'oij il William EWh/e,

Nov. 13, 1928.

1,691192 w; 1E. WINE l l I sLoPE SHEET Fn FREIGHT CARS Filed March 15, 192e 4 sneetsfsheqff 4 v Invenor.' 6" WlZamEA/ne,

Patente-zhler'. E3, i923.

were .stares WILLIAM E. NINEL OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

rettili FF 1.

f SLOEE SHEET FOR FREIGHT CARS.

v Application lerl liarchr, i928 Serial No. 261,255.

a plurality o f slope sheets are used forming v a part of the bottom of coal carrying cars, which sheetsextend down into the hoppers so that wheny the coalA is loaded into the car, it will 'run down the slope sheets and first fill up the several hoppers. f

lt is desirable in building freight cars of the maximum capacity type, to pro-vide 1n the slope sheets a clearance for certain ofthe wheels, one of the reasons being that in a present day method of switching freight cars there is what is known in the art as a vertical curve in the track, that is, a track is-laid having a sharp upward and downward curve, so that the freight cars can be run up on this vertical curve and then unhooked and the car or cars will run by gravity down the curve andincline, anda switchman will then switch the ear on the ydesired trackor siding. rllhis manner of switching the cars does away with a number of switch engines, as-the one engine can simply push the cars over the vertical curve and incline andnlet them be switched after they run down the incline to the desired Switchl i y v Due to this steep, short elevationorverjtical curve, as it is called, the trucks mustbe capable of avertical tilting movement, and naturally clearance must he. provided in the slope sheets for the tilting of two of the wheels of each truck.

`Orne of the present objects of the invention, therefore, is to provide the slope sheets with a e crownpocke,t orother raised portion that will provide'the proper clearance for the truck wheels. At the same time, the crown must be so designed that it willv not hinder the flow of coal down the hopper sheets, but on the other `hand will divide the stream of coal and assist in guiding it in its passageV to the hoppers. Still another object of the invention is to provide the hopper sheetsv with a crown, which crown is either 'formed integral with the hopper sheet, or is a separate stamping that may be quickly fittedinto a special opening provided in the hopper sheet. Y

yStill another Vobject of the invention is to provide the hopper sheet with either an in# tegral or quickly attachable crown or pocket so constructed that itwill dividethe flow of sheet.

coal as it flows down the slope sheet and guide it in'its flow an'rd'at the same time will be so Iconstructed that it will addvbut ylittle resistance to the flow ofthe coal to the hop- PQF- Still another object of the invention isto provideV a freight car having these. specially formed slope sheets therein, to allow for avere tical tilting ofthe truck and its whe el s'and at the same time will nothinderfthe flow of so Y' coal but will help direct it to properly fill up the hoppers.

Still another object ofthe 'invent-ion "is to so design and construct these, slopel 'sheets that they may hecut from stock, placedmin' presses with a special die to Vform the crown Jintegral with the sheet, or thesheet be 'out withl an'opening andthecrown formed in ay different'press1 and then riveted in place. l/Vith these andother objects in view themvention consists certain new and novel arf.

rangements and combination of par-teas .will i pointed out in the claims;

be hereinafter morerv fully descrihedgand Referring now'to the drawings, showing` ,a preferred embodimentand a modification of the invention.

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevation'of a full capacity car ofthe Wine type,r the dote. ted lines over the wheels showing-thecrown or pocket in the slope sheet.

e Fig. 2 is a fragmentary .top riplan i the position of the slope'sheets rand the position of the pocketstherein. f I

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary'sectional View showing the arrangement` andfposition vof'one of the pockets.

Fig. 4 is a top'plan view vof thecr'own when" l the same is formed in a separate piece of metal rather than'pressed up in tlhelslope Fig. 51S Side elevationfthereof. i

FigL is a sectional view taken on 6%-,'6

of Fig. 5,.

. Y F I is a sectional view taken on theLline i Fig. V8 is a sectional View taken onthelline Fig. 1,0 isa fragmentary .detailofone y corner of the slope sheet.

Fig. ll is a sectionallview taken online yivi-ii of Fig. 1o..

Fig. l2 is a top of a modified v *y tion.

These several special parts, howeverkdo not form anypart of the present invention, butk are the subject matter of 4other patents granted to me and pending applications- Patent'1,66l,863. dated March 6, 1928, and pending. applications 250,781, filed January 31, 1928, 193,612, filed May 23,1927, and 146,977, filed November 8, 1926. v

In Fig. 1 theremay also be seen'the hopper 4 4, ,together with the hopper door hook 5.

While the slope sheets 6 shown in dotted lines may be seen erzfitendingV from the end of the car down to the hopper.

In dotted lines are shown the wheels 7 and the pocket or crown 8, which crown provides sufficient clearance for any'. vertical movement of the wheel 7, as well as swinging movementjofthe truck and wheels.

[Referring now for the moment'to Fig. 2, which is a fragmentary top plan of the, end ofthe car, there will yalso beseen the top rails 9'showing the ymanner in which they taper at 10 near the end of the car to provide clearance for the ladder. i V

It will be understood, however, Vat the outset, that. ythe `present linvention may be used withanyjtype of yhopper car. t y n In Fig. 2 there may be seen the two slope sheets connected to the Vcenter sill 11, which sheets are cut along their inner adjacent edges i, so that they may saidcenterjsill.

be Vproperly fastened the The outer edges'of the slope sheets 6V are p, .rivetedto theside of the'car andto theside sills, and extend Vdownwardly tothe hoppers 4,V as maybe readily understood."

Taking up noWthe gist of the invention, that is, the special formation `of the hopper sheet and its pocket, and referring to Figs.

3 to 9 inclusive, it will be seen that the slope sheet 6` vis slightly wider at its end`12 than vit is at its end 13, the metal being cut away on its fone side as Vat 14, and its otherkside asv at 15. Also, there vis a special flange 16 on its oneside which is turned up so that it maybe readily'riveted to the sidesill, and one of the corners 17 is slightly cut away to fit about a side stake. Y

- The general outline, however, 'of this'slope sheet, of course, can beyaried to suit the conditions present, andl the outline shown 1s one that 1s adapted to fit the car yshown in lthe present drawing.

. Still referring to Fig. 9, it will be seen that there is an opening 18 provided in the sheet having its one edge or wall 19 parallel w1th the end 13. The side walls 20 of this opening will'be a flange A24 around theperiphery thereof. which flange is adapted to it on the underside of the slope sheet 6 and about the outline edge of the opening 18. This flange may be riveted .tightly in position` there being a line of rivetholes 25 that will align with the rivet holes 23. In making this crown 8, will be seen that the outline of the inner edges of flange 24'correspond with the outline of the opening 18, so lthat when the 'crown ris-placed within the opening 18 and riveted thereto, the vertical walls of the crown will just fit within the walls of the ,opening 18.

Referring now to Fig. 4, it will be seen that at one end 26 of thecrown 8 there is a central rib 27, extendingslightly above the upper surface walls or top 28 of the crown, which rib 27 dies out or merges as at 29, at the rear `to the slope sheetwhich of course is angularly disposed. Y y, Y.

In Figs. 8, 7 and 6, there are shown the cross sections of the vcrown and it will be noted that the crown at its front endy has the sloping Walls28 (top) rather steeply inclined, while the vertical walls 81 are relatively short. In 7, however, the vertical side walls'l have increased in height, andthe top walls 28 are less abrupt.

In Fig, 6, that is, nearthe rear endl ofthe crown, the vertical walls 31v are again decreased in'height, and the top Walls 28 are merged and forma horizontalsurface.

By forming the opening 18 in the sheet and riveting the crown up, within the opening, it will be Vseen that space isl provided for the swinging of the truck and yalso for greater r vertical movement of thewheels, than is' customary `with the. freight cars now in general service. Furthermore, as the coal slides inenten obstruction to the passage of the coal, will inv this instance, assistthe coalin its flow and as the hoppers are emptied, the coal will vslide olf the top and down the sides of this crown and not be ietaidedv when thelhoppers are being emptied.

In F l2 and 13 I have shown a slightly modified form,that is, rather than making the crown from a separate sheet ofinetal, Il form the crown integral with the hopper' sheet 6.

Of course, allowance will have to be made in the size of the sheet so that the metal can. be drawn up into the crown, and possibly. a heavier stamp press willY have 'to vbe used, but from a manufacturing standpoint, there will be certain at vantages gained, such as by cutting out the cost'of the rivet and for the labor in applying the rive-ts.

It will be understood .that the general construction of the slopesheet 6 will be similar lto the slope sheet 6, and that the outline of the crown 8 is identical with the `crown 8, but

of course there will be no flange corresponding to the flange 24 and no rivet holes as this crown is ust to be pressed bodily right in the slope sheet 6.

As heretofore mentioned, the general`outline of the slope. sheets of both forms might be changed to be accommodated by 'different forms of hopper cars, and therefore, the gen- `eral outline of the plate is to be merely considered as illustrative.,

The size of the crown might be changed or variations might be made in the outline of the crown proper, although-I have found that the general shape and arrangement of the differs ent contours throughout the length'and width of the crown, as shown, is practical and will perform the functions desired.

I am aware that it is old to simply provide a pocket in a slope sheet,Y as is shown in ther patent to Schoen, No. 584,709 of 1897, the

pocket in this instance simply being shown to provide the pocket for thewheels of the truck, but no provision is made in this arrangement for dividing the coal or assisting the coal in its flow from the crown, the pocket being shown as simply an arcuate plate and struck from a center at a distance from the car.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided slope sheets for a hopper car,

wherein provision is made for the swinging of the trucks and a tilting of the trucks, and at the same time, have so constructed the nieans'that they will not hinderl the coal in its flow to the hopper.

Also,I I have shown how the pocket maybe formed integral with the slope sheet or how the crown might be made of a separate sheet and riveted in place. lAlthough not shown, it will of course be understood that theslope sheets at both ends ofl the` car will be constructed in a like manner. Y

In a companion case I have .shown aA still further ,form of construction of the crown,

new Serial Number 264,605, filed Mja-rch 26, Y

A Havingtlius described ,myl invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Iletters Patent is :-v f k vl. A slope sheet having a crown formedA therein, the side walls of the crownbeing vertical, and the top surface ofthe crown sloping towards the side walls, the frontedge of the crown having sloping` top walls-and 'the rear end of the crown having its top wall horizontal throughout its ,width` 2. A slope sheet'for coal cars having an Y opening formed therein and a cover over-the opening in the forni of a crownbeing pointed at its forward end, the said crown `having 4vertical side walls and the top surface of the crown sloping towards the side walls at the forward end of the crown and the top sur- Vface of the crown flat at its rear end.

`the rear of the crown being fiat.

4. A slope sheet for freight cars having an opening cut therein, a crown having a flange' and the flange adapted to be riveted around the edges of the opening, the said crown being pointed at its forward end and blunt at its rear end, the crown provided with vertical side walls that are increasingl in height to about the center of the length'of the crown,

the forward end of the crown having sharp sloping topv walls and a rib located centrally of. the top wall and .extending part .way throughout the lengt-hV of the crown and the top walls flattening as they approach the rear of the crown and substantially flat near the rea-r end of the crown.

lll)

`LA crown for a slope sheet, the crown comprising a single piece of metal and hav-V ing aV flange about its periphery, the crown tapering from its rear end to its front end, vertical side walls, top walls merging with the side walls and a center rib extending part way throughout the length of the crown and the top walls flattening out as they approach the rear of the crown.

6. A slope sheet of irregular shape for freight cars and the said slope sheet provided with a turned up flange near its rear end, the said slope sheet provided with a substantially central cut-out portion, a crown provided with a flange and adapted to be riveted about said opening, said crown being pointed at its forward end and blunt at its rear end, a central rib on the upper surface of the crown and the forward top walls of the Crown sloping sharply and flattening out as they approach the` uppermost surface of the crown and the sloping top wall merging into a horizontal plane near the rear end ofthe crown.

7 .i A slope sheet for freight cars provided with a cut-out portion and a` metal crown adapted to be secured over'the said out-out portion to form a pocket for the reception of the ear wheel, said crown being Wedge shape Aand sloping top walls at its forward end and aflat surface'at its rear end.

8. A freight car having slope sheets at its opposite ends, each of said slope sheets provided with a crown yportion therein and adapted to provide vertical and lateral swing-A ing of the wheels,V said crown being Wedge shape andthe pointl of the wedge extending towards the adjacent ends of the car, the forward end of the Crown having sharply inclined top `wallsand merging into a flat surface as-these walls approach the rear of the crown. l U

9. A freight ear provided with the usual slope sheets, crowned pockets in each of the slope sheets to provide `clearance for the wheels, the'said crowns being pointed at;

their one end and the apex of the Crowns pointing towards the adjacent ends of the car, said crowns having vertical side walls, sharply kpointed top walls at their one end and a rib extending from the`v apex and rearwardly of the crown andsaid rib and sharp ly inclined top walls merging into a flat surn `face* as they approach the rear end of the crown. v

v'In testimony whereof affix -my signature.

WILLIAM E. WINE. 

